Christ the King

Mosaic in Hagia Sophia

Rev. Molly F. James, PhD

Christ Church Cathedral, Hartford, CT

Christ the King, November 25, 2018

2 Samuel 23:1-7; Psalm 132:1-13 (14-19) ; Revelation 1:4b-8;John 18:33-37

May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. May that point us to the living Word who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Collect for today prays that we “may be freed and brought together under [the] most gracious rule” of Jesus, who is “king of kings and lord of lords.” It is a beautiful image to think of all humanity unified under one gracious and benevolent ruler. An image that seems impossible and like a fairy tale in our current reality where we are more profoundly aware of all that divides us. It seems naive to talk of unity. And what does it mean for us as Americans, who prize our democracy to talk of having a king?

I think we Americans have an interesting relationship with monarchy. On the one hand we are fascinated by it. Note how much news coverage the British Royal family gets on our TV networks and in our magazines, even when our Presiding Bishop isn’t preaching. Or even note how he is still referred to by the news media as the Royal Wedding Preacher. We are fascinated by royalty. And yet we are adamant in maintaining our democratic and republican principles in our government. We have not forgotten the words of the Declaration of Independence, that long list of grievances written to a far off king who, the founding fathers believed, had overstepped his bounds and abused his power. To be an American is to believe in the principle of self-governance, to believe that “We the people” have a right to have a say in how we are governed and by whom.

So, how do we reconcile our identity as Americans and our identity as followers of Jesus? Well the easy way out would be to say that all this talk about Jesus as King is not about the here and now, so we can just chalk it up to dreams for the future. This would be easy to do. Our reading today is from the book of Revelation, a book that is all about the end times, If Jesus is only going to become our king in the Eschaton (big, fancy, Christian word for the end of the world as we know it), then we don’t have anything to worry about. The American Nation and the Eschaton won’t exist at the same time, so there is really no conflict.

We could do that, but I think that doing so keeps us from doing some important reflecting on the role Jesus has in our lives now. Given the political realities of our world, it does not make sense to think of Jesus becoming a literal “king,” at least not in the way we understand monarchy here on earth. Although, from what we know of Jesus, our loving, merciful Lord, it is tempting to wish he would hurry up and become King of the World. Clearly he would do a far better job of governing us than we seem to do for ourselves.

So, what does it mean on a personal level for each of us to speak of Jesus as our King, as Lord of our lives? And yes, that is what we all agreed to do at our baptisms. We agreed to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Now, we could easily spend a whole semester on the person of Jesus, his identity as the Christ and the Son of God and what that means for us. Much ink has been spilled and will continue to be spilled by Christian writers over the centuries. But I know that one of the things many of you appreciate about me is the brevity of my sermons, so I will just focus on two aspects of Christ as King of our lives. The first is priorities and the second is trust.

I believe that setting Christ as the center, as the king of our lives means that we will have our priorities straight. If our focus is on Christ, on what it means to be a follower of Jesus, then everything else falls into place. It means that we keep our focus on what really matters in life. We keep our focus on the central Commandments of loving God and loving our neighbor. Jesus reminds us that living and acting with love is who we are called to be.

I had the privilege of hearing our Presiding Bishop preach the week before last at a meeting of various Commissions and Task Forces of The Episcopal Church. He reminded us that if it is not about Love, it is not about Jesus. Indeed. Walking the Way of Love, having Jesus as the center of our lives, means that Love becomes the lens through which we view everything. Whenever we are trying to make a decision, whenever we are wondering how to respond to someone else’s action, we have a simple question to ask: “What is the most loving thing we can do in this situation?” If it is not about Love, it is not about Jesus. Love must be the guiding principle of our lives.

If Love is central to our lives. If that is what guides us. If we can keep our focus there, then we will not be sidetracked by all the temptations of this world that would like us to put our focus elsewhere. This is an especially important reminder as we enter the holiday season, a time when we are inundated by messages about how our lives will be complete if only we buy a new gadget or a new car. At this time of year especially, it is so very easy to be tempted to think that the focus of our lives ought to be the acquisition or the giving of lots of material goods. We can be tempted to let our lives be governed by our to do lists or our internal list of “shoulds” to create a perfect holiday. That is a futile road to go down that will no doubt lead to disappointment and failure. Again we come back to the reality that Jesus is and must be the King, the Lord, the Ruler of our lives.

And this brings us to our second aspect of having Jesus as our King: Trust. And this can be trickier than it sounds. On the surface, it might be easy to say, of course we trust Jesus. I mean, he is Jesus after all. But even here, human temptations can get in our way. Having Jesus as our King means a rather significant power differential and that can make us wary. We are far too used to stories of how secular and religious leaders have abused their power. We are quick to list off leaders who have treated their subjects harshly. We point to our own Declaration of Indepence. As Americans and students of history, it is very easy to come up with a list of why monarchy is bad, and we would be wrong to trust in the leadership of a king. And this is where we must make a very important distinction. Jesus is not like any other king. Jesus is Jesus. He is not interested in earthly power or dealing with some internal sense of inadequacy that prompts him to belittle others, so that he can build himself up. Jesus is Jesus. His way is the way of Love. And the only way it will work for us to be true followers is for us to trust his leadership in our lives. We have to be willing to give up our own egos, our own desire for power or accolades. We have to remember where our priorities are. We have to remember who is the center, who is the leader of our lives.

Living with Jesus as the King of our hearts and Lord of our lives is not easy. I fall short of it on a regular basis, and yet I am continually inspired to keep striving toward that goal. To keep focusing on the Way of Love and to trust in his leading. I am inspired because I have experienced the freedom and the joy that come in those moments when I am able to get it right. It may seem counter-intuitive to say that freedom comes from submission, but indeed it does. For in submitting ourselves to Christ we are putting aside all that does not serve us. We are getting out of our own way. We are removing the stumbling blocks to our own flourishing.

So as we move into Advent, I invite you to think about where your priorities are and how you might be able to more fully trust Jesus as the Lord of your Life. Prepare a space for him in your heart and in your life, for living a life with Christ at the center is a blessing beyond our imagining. AMEN.

Living Generously

The chapel at Christ Church Cathedral 

Rev. Molly F. James, PhD
Christ Church Cathedral, Hartford, CT
Christ the King, November 26, 2017
Matthew 25: 31-46

May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. May that point us to the living Word who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I have a mug which has a picture of a small child and a motivational quote on it entitled “Priorities.” It reads: “A hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of car I drove, the sort of house I lived in, or the size of my bank account, but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.” I could not help but think of this quote when I read the gospel for today. Jesus tells his followers that the defining characteristic of their lives will be how they have cared for those on the margins, those who, like children, can be considered the “least.”

Yet again, as we were a few weeks ago, we are reminded that living a life of faith means living a life that is focused beyond ourselves. It means living a life where we are not focused on our own achievements or how much we might acquire in wealth and resources. It means living a life that is focused on how we might engage in relationship with each other and how we might be able to share our gifts and blessings in a way that enriches the lives of all.

There is a real invitation here for us to think about the ways that we have been too self-centered. Notice how the followers talk to Jesus. They say, “When was it that WE did this for you?” Notice that they still make it about themselves. They make it about what THEY did or did not do. They keep the focus on their own actions more than about helping someone else. They don’t ask Jesus about those who were served, they ask about themselves. They seem to be overly concerned with their own status and standing. How human!

As I think I have mentioned, I consider myself a recovering perfectionist, and so I can so relate to the followers in this passage who want to know exactly where they stand with Jesus. Please, Lord, tell me am I one of the righteous? I find myself quickly going to the place of fearing how I may have fallen short of being righteous. And this text sets us up to be fearful, because it shows us the reward for the righteous and the punishment for those who fail to care for others.

But even if we are behaving in a righteous manner, even if we are being generous with what we have, we need to also pay attention to our motivations. Notice something about the righteous . . . they ask the same question as the unrighteous. They ask when it was that they did these things, because they don’t remember seeing Jesus sick or in prison. Jesus rewards them precisely because they did something good and right for its own sake. They were not paying attention to who they were serving. They just saw someone in need and responded.

That is Church at its best: seeing a need and responding. Whether it be someone who needs food or clothing, someone who needs comfort and care while facing illness or other personal challenge, providing connection to those in prison. Someone who feels lonely and is looking for a community that will accept them as they are. Churches do this. This Church, this Cathedral community, does all these things. We do them because we know that it is the right thing to do. It is not about our own egos, about getting noticed or racking up some kind of personal reward. It is about being generous with what we have - with our material abundance and with the love in our hearts, because that is who we are and who God created us to be.

Someone need only spend a little time in this remarkable community to realize that it is one that exemplifies the life of generosity that the Lord calls us to in our Gospel today. The statistics about how many people have been fed and clothed because of the efforts of our Cathedral community are remarkable. Thousands of lives have been blessed by the generosity of this Cathedral community. Additionally, over the years this community has supported, in a variety of ways, ministry with those in prison and those newly released. And it says right at the top of our bulletins that wherever you are on your spiritual journey, you are welcome here. This is a house of prayer for all people.

If like me, you have some perfectionist tendencies, you can focus too quickly on what is missing or what you have not done. I do hope in this season of stewardship, as we all are reflecting on how we can live even more generous lives, that we are also taking the time to give thanks for myriad of ways in which we are already living beautiful, faithful, generous lives. Yes, we can, and we should, do more. And we can also celebrate all that is already happening.

I hope that in that celebration we will share the stories of this community out in the world. There are so many stories of hope here. Stories that embody our Gospel for today. Stories that tell of faithful people who love God and care for one another. The world needs tho

se stories. The other communities in which we live, work, go to school and volunteer, need our stories. You never know when someone might be seeking a community or seeking out resources for which they are afraid to ask. Our stories of hope and community, our stories of this remarkable Cathedral community might just be what they need to hear.  I might even be so bold as to modify the saying on my motivational mug to say that “the world might be different because I brought a friend to church or I shared a story of my faith community.”

There are many who are in need, in our midst and beyond these walls. May we give thanks for the myriad of ways this community already seeks to meet the needs of the world. And may we also be inspired to be even more bold in the ways in which we live generous and holy lives.

AMEN.